Poll Says Daniel Ortega Will Win 3rd Term as President of Nicaragua

The former leftist guerrilla was president of Nicaragua in the 80s and returned to power in 2007

A woman rides her bicycle past a mural referencing Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections on November 6, in Masaya city, Nicaragua, June 7, 2016, photo: Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas

MEXICO CITY — Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra is seen easily winning his third consecutive term in office in elections on Nov. 6, which would put him in power until 2020, according to a poll published on Monday.

The poll, conducted by M&R Consultants, showed that 65 percent of those surveyed planned to vote for Ortega Saavedra’s leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party, compared with just 13 percent for the entire opposition.

“What is at stake in this election is who will take second place,” said Raúl Obregón, head of the polling firm.

The opposition Independent Liberal Party (PLI) and the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) each had 5.6 percent of the vote, according to the poll, with the rest divided up among smaller parties.

Obregon attributed the wide victory margin to the Ortega Saavedra administration’s economic policies and divisions among the opposition.

The poll of 2,000 people was conducted between June 11 and 20 and had a margin of error of 2.24 percent.

Ortega Saavedra, a 70-year-old former guerrilla leader, first ruled the country in the 1980s and returned to power in 2007 after a fracture in Nicaragua‘s right-wing parties.